The present invention relates generally to a connection-retaining unit that establishes and retains electrical connection between a memory card which has terminals at an end thereof and a flexible printed board which has corresponding terminals at an end thereof. This connection-retaining unit includes a connecting member which receives the memory card and makes the memory card connect electrically with the printed board at the respective terminals.
Nowadays, many items of electronic equipment are designed and manufactured in miniaturized forms with extra functions which are added by individual manufacturers to distinguish their products from the others"". For example, some video recorders are designed to utilize a small memory card for information storage in addition to their original function of recording information on video tape. In this case, information stored in the memory card can be transferred to and processed by, for example, a personal computer for more efficiently use of the information.
Such equipment can be sold as value-added products. However, there are some difficulties in assembling such products because miniaturized equipment has a limited volume, which provides only a small room for the installation of a memory card.
For example, a prior-art item of electronic equipment shown in FIG. 6 has a retaining member 5, which detachably receives a memory card 7. This retaining member 5 includes electric terminals 40, which are connected electrically with the terminals 19 of the memory card 7 which is inserted in the retaining member 5. The terminals 40 of the retaining member 5 are soldered respectively onto corresponding pads of an electrical circuit printed on an inflexible board 53. For the soldering of the terminals in the production of the miniaturized equipment, a refined soldering process is applied. However, because of difficulty involved in performing the delicate soldering work, there is a non-negligible rate of occurrence of soldering failures and of resultant incomplete or defective electrical connections. Furthermore, because the circuit board 53, onto which the terminals 40 of the retaining member 5 are soldered, is inflexible and not bendable, the degree of freedom of wiring in the equipment is relatively small. This condition is an obstacle in thinning and lightening the equipment even further or achieving a further miniaturization.
The present invention is conceived to solve the above mentioned problems. It is an object of the present invention to provide a connection-retaining unit which facilitates electrical wiring work of miniaturized electronic equipment and enables such equipment to be designed in a thinner and more compact form.
A connection-retaining unit according to the present invention comprises an electronic part (for example, the memory card 7 described in the following section) which has an electric terminal (for example, the terminals 19 of the following embodiment) at an end thereof, a retaining body which receives and retains the electronic part inserted therein, and a flexible printed board which has a printed electrical pathway whose terminal is provided at an end thereof (for example, the electrically conductive pathways 13 of the following embodiment, which are exposed at the front end). The flexible printed board is attachable to the retaining body by insertion thereinto, and it is also easily extractable from the retaining body. The retaining body has a connection terminal whose one end is electrically connected to the terminal of the electronic part and whose other end is electrically connected to the terminal of the flexible printed board when the electronic part and the printed board are received and retained in the retaining body.
With this connection-retaining unit, when the electronic part and the flexible printed board are inserted and retained in the retaining body, one end of the connection terminal is connected with the terminal of the electronic part while the other end of the connection terminal is connected with the terminal of the printed board. As a result, the electronic part is electrically connected to the flexible printed board through the connection terminal.
In comparison with a prior-art electronic connection in which the terminals of electrical wiring are soldered directly onto an inflexible circuit board, the present invention provides a connection-retaining unit which eliminates any possibility of incomplete soldering that may otherwise occur during production. As the flexible printed board used in the connection-retaining unit of the present invention can be bent with a high degree of freedom in assembled condition, the present invention enables further miniaturization of electronic equipment.
In the connection-retaining unit, it is preferable that the retaining body have a through-hole and that the connection terminal be provided in the through-hole. In this case, the electronic part is inserted through an opening of the through-hole while the terminal of the flexible printed board is inserted through the other opening of the through-hole. In this way, the electronic part and the flexible printed board are connected electrically through the connection terminal in the retaining body.
With this connection-retaining unit, the electronic part is electrically connected to the flexible printed board just by inserting the electronic part through one opening of the through-hole of the retaining body and the printed board through the other opening.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.